The present invention relates to an optical disc apparatus and a method for self-diagnosis control of an optical disc apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to an optical disc apparatus that is connected to a host computer through an SATA interface, and that is suitable for the control relating to a self-diagnostic mode at the time of the shipment of the optical disc apparatus from a factory, and relates to a method for self-diagnosis control of the optical disc apparatus.
The ATA specifications are mainstream specifications used for an interface between a computer and a peripheral device such as a hard disk drive and an optical disc apparatus (DVD-ROM device). As an interface that replaces the ATA (AT Attachment) specifications, the SATA (Serial ATA) interface is attracting a lot of attention.
The SATA interface is made by changing the parallel transmission method used in the current ATA specifications, such as Ultra ATA, to the serial transmission method. As a result, with the compatibility with several kinds of conventional ATA standards adopting the parallel method being kept unchanged, the SATA specifications allow for a high-speed transfer rate through a simple cable. Heretofore, for example, settings of selectable pins are required on a drive basis. However, such settings are also not required in the SATA specifications. If a hard disk drive, or the like, is connected, it can be used quickly.
Incidentally, one of the product inspection items carried out in a manufacturing site is that an optical disc apparatus is operated for a long time so as to compare the performance of the optical disc apparatus before the operation with that after the operation.
The long-time operation of the optical disc apparatus is performed in a self-diagnostic mode that is built into the optical disc apparatus beforehand. The optical disc apparatus is configured to operate in this self-diagnosis mode only by the power supply without being connected to a host PC.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei.3-209601 discloses a disk drive including a self-diagnosis function that enables each section to independently operate without being connected to a host computer.
The conventional optical disc apparatuses, which use the ATA connection based on the parallel transmission method, specify the self-diagnosis mode by use of a selectable pin for specifying master/slave connection. The optical disc apparatus checks a connection state of the selectable pin when the power supply thereof is turned ON. If it is judged that the self-diagnosis mode is specified, the optical disc apparatus executes the self-diagnosis operation.